Proverbiorum 7
1 Fili mi, custodi sermones meos, et præcepta mea reconde tibi.
My son, keep my words, And treasure up my commandments with thee!
2 Fili, serva mandata mea, et vives: et legem meam quasi pupillam oculi tui:
Keep my commandments and live! Yea, my teaching, as the apple of thine eye!
3 liga eam in digitis tuis, scribe illam in tabulis cordis tui.
Bind them upon thy fingers, Write them upon the tablet of thy heart!
4 Dic sapientiæ, soror mea es: et prudentiam voca amicam tuam,
Say unto wisdom, “Thou art my sister!” And call understanding thy near acquaintance;
5 ut custodiant te a muliere extranea, et ab aliena, quæ verba sua dulcia facit.
That they may keep thee from the wife of another, From the stranger, that useth smooth words.
6 De fenestra enim domus meæ per cancellos prospexi,
For through the window of my house, Through the lattice I was looking forth,
7 et video parvulos: considero vecordem iuvenem,
And I saw among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, A young man void of understanding.
8 qui transit per plateam iuxta angulum, et prope viam domus illius, graditur
He was passing through the street near her corner, And was going the way to her house,
9 in obscuro, advesperascente die, in noctis tenebris, et caligine.
At twilight, in the evening, At midnight, yea, in the thick darkness.
10 Et ecce occurrit illi mulier ornatu meretricio, præparata ad capiendas animas: garrula, et vaga,
And, behold, a woman met him, In the attire of a harlot, and subtle of heart, —
11 quietis impatiens, nec valens in domo consistere pedibus suis,
One noisy and unruly, Whose feet abide not in her house;
12 nunc foris, nunc in plateis, nunc iuxta angulos insidians.
Who is now in the streets, now in the broad places, And lurketh near every corner.
13 Apprehensumque deosculatur iuvenem, et procaci vultu blanditur, dicens:
She caught hold of him and kissed him, And with a shameless face said to him,
14 Victimas pro salute vovi, hodie reddidi vota mea.
“Thank-offerings have been upon me, And this day have I performed my vows;
15 Idcirco egressa sum in occursum tuum, desiderans te videre, et reperi.
Therefore came I forth to meet thee, —Diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee!
16 Intexui funibus lectulum meum, stravi tapetibus pictis ex Ægypto.
I have spread my bed with coverlets, With tapestry of the thread of Egypt.
17 Aspersi cubile meum myrrha, et aloe, et cinnamomo.
I have sprinkled my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Veni, inebriemur uberibus, et fruamur cupitis amplexibus, donec illucescat dies.
Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning; Let us solace ourselves with caresses.
19 Non est enim vir in domo sua, abiit via longissima.
For the good-man is not at home; He is gone a long journey;
20 Sacculum pecuniæ secum tulit: in die plenæ lunæ reversurus est in domum suam.
He hath taken a purse of money with him; At the day of the full moon he will return.”
21 Irretivit eum multis sermonibus, et blanditiis labiorum protraxit illum.
By her much fair speech she seduced him; By the smoothness of her lips she drew him away.
22 Statim eam sequitur quasi bos ductus ad victimam, et quasi agnus lasciviens, et ignorans quod ad vincula stultus trahatur,
He goeth after her straightway, As an ox goeth to the slaughter, Or as one in fetters to the chastisement of the fool,
23 donec transfigat sagitta iecur eius: velut si avis festinet ad laqueum, et nescit quod de periculo animæ illius agitur.
Till an arrow strike through his liver; —As a bird hasteneth into the snare, And knoweth not that it is laid for its life.
24 Nunc ergo fili mi, audi me, et attende verbis oris mei.
Now, therefore, ye children, hearken to me, And attend to the words of my mouth!
25 Ne abstrahatur in viis illius mens tua: neque decipiaris semitis eius.
Let not thy heart turn aside to her ways; Go not astray in her paths!
26 Multos enim vulneratos deiecit, et fortissimi quique interfecti sunt ab ea.
For many are the wounded which she hath cast down; Yea, countless is the number of those slain by her.
